It is in the nature of teaser trailers to, you know, tease; give the audience a little bit about the movie so that we feel like watching it, or at least are intrigued enough to click on the full length trailer when it hits. But James Franco doesn’t play by your rules! He thinks that the name of the film and a few shots of a man staring crazily into the camera, accompanied by a thick Southern-ish voiceover, is all you need to know about his latest film, Child of God.
Child of God was once a novel by Cormac McCarthy, and is now a film by James Franco. It tells the story of Lester Ballard (Scott Haze), a man deprived of parents and home who falls deeper into crime and depravity as he attempts to exist outside the social order of 1960’s Tennessee. Ballard’s is basically a regressive trajectory, turning from a member of society into an outcast, a virtual cave dweller and finally a serial killer. While Scott Haze play the central character, Franco comes on board as Jerry, along with Tim Blake Nelson and Jim Parrack.
It has become a favorite pastime to rip on James Franco. Having brought Interior. Leather Bar to Sundance, then As I Lay Dying to Cannes, Franco will now bring Child of God to TIFF and Venice. Given the lukewarm critical reception of his other Southern film based on a difficult novel, I’m not holding my breath for this one. Franco has yet to prove himself to be more than just a pretentious actor who thinks he’s an artist. Still, perhaps Child of God will be the one to change my mind about him.
You can check out the trailer for Child of God below and let us know what you think of Franco’s latest directorial effort in the comments.